A Unite/Mori student survey carried out in January 2004 on voting intentions gives the Lib Dems a leading share of 34%, with Labour on 28% and the Tories third on 19%. Students will have a major impact in 2005, as the elections are expected during the university year, on May 5, unlike in 2001 when the elections fell during the holiday period.
Commenting on the launch of an online map to tell homeowners about flooding risks in England and Wales, Norman Baker MP, Liberal Democrat Shadow Environment Secretary, said:
Liberal Democrat Leader Charles Kennedy today launched the Liberal Democrat Pre-manifesto - the first important stage in the manifesto process, which will take the Party into the General Election.
Under new Liberal Democrat proposals police chiefs would sign contracts with local communities setting out how many officers they would deploy. The "minimum policing guarantees" would set funding levels for local police for a rolling three-year period. The guarantees are part of the party's new plans to tackle crime. The plans include using money earmarked for the government's ID card plan to hire an extra 10,000 front line police and 20,000 community support officers.
Liberal Democrat county councillors have expressed their concern after it was revealed that Surrey County Council has not spent any of the income derived from its £298 million commercial property portfolio on council services. Previously, the Conservative Cabinet Member for Property & Business Services stated that: "We also have an additional need to generate an income from our strategy if we are to have any hope of raising enough money to fund the services our residents need."
Liberal Democrat county councillors in Surrey have expressed concern that proposed changes to the arrangements for drug and alcohol detoxification will make it more difficult for those trying to beat addiction.
Liberal Democrat county councillors in Surrey have called for a review of the County Council's admitted failings in the Parsons Green bomb incident. Ahmed Hassan, 18, was convicted of attempted murder on 16th March 2018. He had been placed in foster care in Sunbury by Surrey County Council since the summer of 2016.
Liberal Democrat county councillors in Surrey have revealed that it would take over three quarters of a billion pounds to repair the county's roads and footways to an "as new" standard. At the current rate of spending, it would take the Conservative-run County Council almost 50 years to complete this work. The information was revealed following questioning from Liberal Democrat county councillors this week.
Liberal Democrat county councillors are celebrating after a package of measures to support care leavers was adopted by Surrey County Council. As part of a new Charter unanimously agreed by the County Council, young care leavers will be exempted from council tax, as well as given support with continuing education, managing a household and work skills.
Liberal Democrat county councillors have called on Surrey County Council to accept the Conservative government's view that charges for residents disposing of DIY waste should be dropped. A vote on whether to drop the charges will be held at a meeting of all councillors on Tuesday 20th March. The unpopular charges were introduced at Community Recycling Centres across the county by the Conservative Cabinet in September 2016, and included charges for the diposal of tyres, as well as home and garden waste.
